After installing Microsoft SQL Server, to use it, you must
first open it. Before performing any database operation, you must first connect to the database
server. If you are planning to work on the server, on the taskbar, you can click
Start -> (All) Programs, and position the mouse on Microsoft SQL Server. You
can then click either Query Analyzer or Enterprise Manager:

If you had clicked Enterprise Manager, it would open the SQL Server Enterprise Manager:

You can also establish the connection through the SQL
Query Analyzer. To do this, from the task bar, you can click Start -> (All)
Programs -> Microsoft SQL Server -> Query Analyzer. This action
would open the Connect to SQL Server dialog box:

If the Enterprise Manager was
already opened but the server or none
of its nodes is selected, on the toolbar of the MMC, you can click
Tools -> SQL Query Manager. This also would display the Connect to
SQL Server dialog box.

The Source of Data

To establish a connection, you must specify the
computer you are connecting to, that has Microsoft SQL Server installed. If you are working from the SQL Server Enterprise Manager, first expand
the Microsoft SQL Servers node, followed by the SQL Server Group. If you
don't see any name of a server, you may not have registered it (this
is the case with some installations, probably on Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition):

The following steps are used only if you need to register the new
server.
To proceed, you can right-click the SQL Server Group node and
click New SQL Server Registration...

In the first page of the wizard, you can click Next:

In the Register SQL Server Wizard and in the Available
Servers combo box, you can select the desired server (if would be selected
already) or click (local), then click Add:

After selecting the server, you can click Next. In the
third page of the wizard, you would be asked to specify how security for
the connection would be handled. If you are planning to work in a
non-production environment where you would not be concerned with security,
the first radio button would be fine. In most other cases, you should
select the second radio button as it allows you to eventually perform some
security tests during your development. This second radio button is
associated with an account created automatically during installation. This
account is called sa

After making the selection, you can click Next. If you
had clicked the second radio button in the third page, one option would
ask you to provide the user name and the password for your account. You
can then type either sa or Administrator (or the account you would be
using) in the Login Name text box and the corresponding password. The
second option would ask you to let the computer prompt you for a username
and a password. For our exercise, you should accept the first radio
button, then type a username and a password:

The next (before last) page would ask you to add the
new server to the existing SQL Server Group. If you prefer to add the
server to another group, you would click the second radio button, type the
desired name in the Group Name text box, and click Next:

Once all the necessary information has been specified,
you can click Finish:

When the registration of the server is over, if
everything is fine, you would be presented with a dialog box accordingly:

You can then click Close

Therefore, to specify the computer you want connecting to,
if you are working from the SQL Server Enterprise Manager, you can click either (local)
or the name of the server you want to connect to. Here is an example:

If you are connecting to the server using the SQL
Query Analyzer, we saw that you would be presented with the Connect to SQL
Server dialog box. Normally, the name of the computer would selected
already. If not, you can select either (local) or the name of the
computer in the SQL Server combo box:

If the SQL Server Enterprise Manager is already opened
and you want to open SQL Query Analyzer, in the left frame, you
can click the server or any node under the server to select it. Then,
on the toolbar of the MMC, click Tools -> SQL Query Analyzer. In
this case, the Query Analyzer would open directly.

Security

An important aspect of establishing a connection to a
computer is security. Even if you are developing an application that would be
used on a standalone computer, you must take care of this issue. The security referred to in this attribute has to do
with the connection, not how to protect your database.

If you are using SQL Server Enterprise Manager, you can simply
connect to the computer using the steps we have reviewed so far.

If you are
accessing SQL Query Analyzer from the taskbar where you had clicked Start -> (All)
Programs -> Microsoft SQL Server -> Query Analyzer, after selecting the computer in the SQL Server combo box, you
can specify the type of authentication you want. If security is not an issue in
this instance, you can click the Windows Authentication radio button:

If you want security to apply and if you are connecting to SQL
Query Analyzer using the Connect To SQL Server dialog box, you must click the
SQL Server Authentication radio button:

The Username

If you are connecting to SQL Query Analyzer using the
Connect To SQL Server dialog box and you want to apply authentication, after
selecting the second radio button, this would prompt you for a username.

The Password

If you are "physically" connecting to the server
through SQL Query Analyzer, besides the username, you can (must) also provide a
password to complete the authentication:

After providing the necessary credentials and once you click OK, the SQL
Query Analyzer would display:

The Database

Microsoft SQL Server (including MSDE) ships with various
ready-made databases you can work with. In SQL Server Enterprise Manager, the
available databases and those you will create are listed in a node called
Databases. To display the list of databases, you can click the Databases node:

If you are not trying to connect to one particular database, you don't
need to locate and click any. If you are attempting to connect to a specific
database, in SQL Server Enterprise Manager, you can simply click the desired
database. Here is an example:

If you are working in SQL Query Analyzer but you are not
trying to connect to a specific database, you can accept the default master
selected in the combo box of the toolbar. If you are trying to work on a
specific database, to select it, on the toolbar, you can click the arrow of the combo box and select a
database from the list:

Closing a Connection

After using a connection and getting the necessary
information from it, you should terminate it. If you are working in SQL
Server Enterprise Manager or the SQL Query Analyzer, to close the
connection, you can simply close the window as an application.